Civil infrastructure, and particularly transportation and utility infrastructure require bearing heavy loads. For example, bridges support heavy vehicles, such as trains, cars and trucks by spanning an underlying stream, path, roadway, railway or the like. The structures used in bridges and other civil engineering structures have long been designed using traditional materials, predominantly reinforced concrete, steel and timber. Over time, the extended use and testing of these materials, and the structures built with them, has resulted in a substantial knowledge base of their material properties, and the properties of structures built with them. This knowledge base includes standards, codes, reference material, design texts and general knowledge in the design community pertaining to the conventional materials. This knowledge has, in some respects, hindered the development of new designs using new materials. For example, unconventional materials, such as plastics have been disfavored in part because many applicable civil engineering designers do not know or have access to the same type of knowledge base as is available for steel, concrete and timber. Unconventional materials have further been disfavored in part because of perceived, and misperceived, challenges and differences between the materials and conventional materials, such as perceived differences in strength, temperature effects, and reactions to exposure, such as the effects of prolonged exposure to sunlight. It would be advantageous to realize the benefits of new materials and new designs using such materials, while overcoming or ameliorating one or more of the deficiencies of prior art structures.
It would be beneficial to reduce the complexity of construction of civil infrastructure such as bridges, platforms, retaining walls and other transportation and utility structures. Needed are structural modules for civil infrastructure that do not have the extent and nature of deficiencies of prior art support structures. Needed are structural modules and methods for using them in constructing civil infrastructure having lower initial costs of manufacturer, as well as lower total costs of ownership. Needed is civil infrastructure having lower adverse environmental impact.